FPGA Central - World's 1st FPGA / CPLD Portal

FPGA Central

World's 1st FPGA Portal

 

Go Back   FPGA Groups > NewsGroup > FPGA

FPGA comp.arch.fpga newsgroup (usenet)

Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1 (permalink)  
Old 11-22-2007, 03:12 AM
Nevo
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Default Unable to scan device chain

I'm soldering up my first FPGA design and I'm getting discouraged.

I'm using an Altera Cycline with an EPCS1 serial configuration device. I've
soldered up the passives and the power supply but the only active part I've
put on the board is the configuration PROM.

I've connected my ByteBlaster to my board, and it doesn't see the PROM
device. I get the error "Unable to scan device chain. Can't scan JTAG
chain." Quartus will, however, see the Cyclone device on another (also
not-working) board of mine.

I've checked and double-checked the connections per Figure 4-2 of the Serial
Configuration Devices datasheet, and the continuity tester says it all
checks out. I've tried the PROM soldered in both ways, but no success.

Are there any magical troubleshooting steps out there I don't know of? It's
quite discouraging that I've spent this money to have custom boards made,
paid for parts, etc. and find that I can't program the PROM.

Thanks in advance for any tips.

-Matt


Reply With Quote
  #2 (permalink)  
Old 11-22-2007, 03:27 AM
rickman
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Default Re: Unable to scan device chain

On Nov 21, 10:12 pm, "Nevo" <[email protected]> wrote:
> I'm soldering up my first FPGA design and I'm getting discouraged.
>
> I'm using an Altera Cycline with an EPCS1 serial configuration device. I've
> soldered up the passives and the power supply but the only active part I've
> put on the board is the configuration PROM.
>
> I've connected my ByteBlaster to my board, and it doesn't see the PROM
> device. I get the error "Unable to scan device chain. Can't scan JTAG
> chain." Quartus will, however, see the Cyclone device on another (also
> not-working) board of mine.
>
> I've checked and double-checked the connections per Figure 4-2 of the Serial
> Configuration Devices datasheet, and the continuity tester says it all
> checks out. I've tried the PROM soldered in both ways, but no success.


That might be the clue. I don't know the pinout of the PROM device,
but they often use power and ground on diagonal pins. If you put it
in backwards the first time, it is ruined and turning it around will
not help. Figure out which way is right and put a new one on the
board.


> Are there any magical troubleshooting steps out there I don't know of? It's
> quite discouraging that I've spent this money to have custom boards made,
> paid for parts, etc. and find that I can't program the PROM.


Yes, there are lots of magical steps. But we can't share them or we
are banned from the coven.
Reply With Quote
  #3 (permalink)  
Old 11-22-2007, 05:48 AM
John_H
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Default Re: Unable to scan device chain

Nevo wrote:
> I'm soldering up my first FPGA design and I'm getting discouraged.
>
> I'm using an Altera Cyclone with an EPCS1 serial configuration device. I've
> soldered up the passives and the power supply but the only active part I've
> put on the board is the configuration PROM.
>
> I've connected my ByteBlaster to my board, and it doesn't see the PROM
> device. I get the error "Unable to scan device chain. Can't scan JTAG
> chain." Quartus will, however, see the Cyclone device on another (also
> not-working) board of mine.
>
> I've checked and double-checked the connections per Figure 4-2 of the Serial
> Configuration Devices datasheet, and the continuity tester says it all
> checks out. I've tried the PROM soldered in both ways, but no success.
>
> Are there any magical troubleshooting steps out there I don't know of? It's
> quite discouraging that I've spent this money to have custom boards made,
> paid for parts, etc. and find that I can't program the PROM.
>
> Thanks in advance for any tips.
>
> -Matt


A JTAG chain is usually a "chain" with outputs from one chip feeding
inputs of the other. Is your ByteBlaster indeed connected directly to
the TDI and TDO pins? If you have the FPGA as part of that chain yet
not installed, there's a link missing.

Are you aware the board has to be fully powered up to have the JTAG
work? The ByteBlaster alone will not make the device (your PROM) come
up. It may sound like a silly question but all I know is this is your
first FPGA design.

- John_H
Reply With Quote
  #4 (permalink)  
Old 11-22-2007, 03:20 PM
Nevo
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Default Re: Unable to scan device chain

Aha! I went to bed last night pretty discouraged, but found a ray of hope
this morning.

It seems there's a power supply issue on my board. I don't think I'm going
to be able to solve the programming issue until I solve the power supply
issue.

Stay tuned...


Reply With Quote
  #5 (permalink)  
Old 11-22-2007, 03:23 PM
Nevo
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Default Re: Unable to scan device chain


"John_H" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:fL81j.8078$B21.5046@trndny07...
> Nevo wrote:
>> I'm soldering up my first FPGA design and I'm getting discouraged.
>>
>> I'm using an Altera Cyclone with an EPCS1 serial configuration device.
>> I've soldered up the passives and the power supply but the only active
>> part I've put on the board is the configuration PROM.
>>
>> I've connected my ByteBlaster to my board, and it doesn't see the PROM
>> device. I get the error "Unable to scan device chain. Can't scan JTAG
>> chain." Quartus will, however, see the Cyclone device on another (also
>> not-working) board of mine.
>>
>> I've checked and double-checked the connections per Figure 4-2 of the
>> Serial Configuration Devices datasheet, and the continuity tester says it
>> all checks out. I've tried the PROM soldered in both ways, but no
>> success.
>>
>> Are there any magical troubleshooting steps out there I don't know of?
>> It's quite discouraging that I've spent this money to have custom boards
>> made, paid for parts, etc. and find that I can't program the PROM.
>>
>> Thanks in advance for any tips.
>>
>> -Matt

>
> A JTAG chain is usually a "chain" with outputs from one chip feeding
> inputs of the other. Is your ByteBlaster indeed connected directly to the
> TDI and TDO pins? If you have the FPGA as part of that chain yet not
> installed, there's a link missing.
>
> Are you aware the board has to be fully powered up to have the JTAG work?
> The ByteBlaster alone will not make the device (your PROM) come up. It
> may sound like a silly question but all I know is this is your first FPGA
> design.
>
> - John_H


There is no chain, just the PROM device. Yes, I am powering the board during
the scan. (Thank you, though, for pointing that out!)


Reply With Quote
  #6 (permalink)  
Old 11-25-2007, 10:30 AM
Andre
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Default Re: Unable to scan device chain

Matt

The EPCS should be programmed using the 'Active Serial Programming'
mode, not JTAG.

André

Nevo wrote:
> I'm soldering up my first FPGA design and I'm getting discouraged.
>
> I'm using an Altera Cycline with an EPCS1 serial configuration device. I've
> soldered up the passives and the power supply but the only active part I've
> put on the board is the configuration PROM.
>
> I've connected my ByteBlaster to my board, and it doesn't see the PROM
> device. I get the error "Unable to scan device chain. Can't scan JTAG
> chain." Quartus will, however, see the Cyclone device on another (also
> not-working) board of mine.
>
> I've checked and double-checked the connections per Figure 4-2 of the Serial
> Configuration Devices datasheet, and the continuity tester says it all
> checks out. I've tried the PROM soldered in both ways, but no success.
>
> Are there any magical troubleshooting steps out there I don't know of? It's
> quite discouraging that I've spent this money to have custom boards made,
> paid for parts, etc. and find that I can't program the PROM.
>
> Thanks in advance for any tips.
>
> -Matt
>
>

Reply With Quote
  #7 (permalink)  
Old 11-25-2007, 04:31 PM
Nevo
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Default Re: Unable to scan device chain

Andre,

From within Quartus, I'm going to the Tools menu, selecting Programmer, then
clicking on Auto Detect.

Is that not appropriate for the EPCS device? If not, then how do I program
the device from within Quartus?

-Mat

"Andre" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected] .home.nl...
> Matt
>
> The EPCS should be programmed using the 'Active Serial Programming' mode,
> not JTAG.
>
> André
>
> Nevo wrote:
>> I'm soldering up my first FPGA design and I'm getting discouraged.
>>
>> I'm using an Altera Cycline with an EPCS1 serial configuration device.
>> I've soldered up the passives and the power supply but the only active
>> part I've put on the board is the configuration PROM.
>>
>> I've connected my ByteBlaster to my board, and it doesn't see the PROM
>> device. I get the error "Unable to scan device chain. Can't scan JTAG
>> chain." Quartus will, however, see the Cyclone device on another (also
>> not-working) board of mine.
>>
>> I've checked and double-checked the connections per Figure 4-2 of the
>> Serial Configuration Devices datasheet, and the continuity tester says it
>> all checks out. I've tried the PROM soldered in both ways, but no
>> success.
>>
>> Are there any magical troubleshooting steps out there I don't know of?
>> It's quite discouraging that I've spent this money to have custom boards
>> made, paid for parts, etc. and find that I can't program the PROM.
>>
>> Thanks in advance for any tips.
>>
>> -Matt



Reply With Quote
  #8 (permalink)  
Old 11-25-2007, 04:33 PM
Nevo
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Default Re: Unable to scan device chain

Never mind. Found it.

Thank you for pointing that out. I wouldn't have figured that out on my own!

"Nevo" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:Brh2j.40740$Pt.1121@trnddc02...
> Andre,
>
> From within Quartus, I'm going to the Tools menu, selecting Programmer,
> then clicking on Auto Detect.
>
> Is that not appropriate for the EPCS device? If not, then how do I program
> the device from within Quartus?
>
> -Mat
>
> "Andre" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected] .home.nl...
>> Matt
>>
>> The EPCS should be programmed using the 'Active Serial Programming' mode,
>> not JTAG.
>>
>> André
>>
>> Nevo wrote:
>>> I'm soldering up my first FPGA design and I'm getting discouraged.
>>>
>>> I'm using an Altera Cycline with an EPCS1 serial configuration device.
>>> I've soldered up the passives and the power supply but the only active
>>> part I've put on the board is the configuration PROM.
>>>
>>> I've connected my ByteBlaster to my board, and it doesn't see the PROM
>>> device. I get the error "Unable to scan device chain. Can't scan JTAG
>>> chain." Quartus will, however, see the Cyclone device on another (also
>>> not-working) board of mine.
>>>
>>> I've checked and double-checked the connections per Figure 4-2 of the
>>> Serial Configuration Devices datasheet, and the continuity tester says
>>> it all checks out. I've tried the PROM soldered in both ways, but no
>>> success.
>>>
>>> Are there any magical troubleshooting steps out there I don't know of?
>>> It's quite discouraging that I've spent this money to have custom boards
>>> made, paid for parts, etc. and find that I can't program the PROM.
>>>
>>> Thanks in advance for any tips.
>>>
>>> -Matt

>
>



Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Unable to scan JTAG chain mohan FPGA 2 05-17-2007 04:35 AM
JTAG scan chain [email protected] Verilog 0 01-10-2007 11:54 PM
Error : iMPACT 1208 : -'1' Boundary-Scan chain test failed at bit position 1 [email protected] FPGA 0 03-31-2006 04:43 AM
GPIO,SCAN CHAIN and BIST rsk Verilog 1 02-24-2005 08:29 PM
No device found in Boundary Scan Chain, for Xilinx PC4 Cable [email protected] FPGA 0 01-15-2005 06:58 PM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 11:49 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.0
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Search Engine Friendly URLs by vBSEO 3.2.0
Copyright 2008 @ FPGA Central. All rights reserved